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Beth Fertig of member station WNYC reports on New York city's experiment with 'workfare' - making welfare recipients work for their benefits. While perhaps a good idea for some, for others it forces them to choose between working at a dead-end minimum wage job or going to school to improve skills and employability.

NPR's Linda Gradstein reports that the new Israeli transportation minister has announced plans to shut down one of Jerusalem's major thoroughfares during prayer hours on the Jewish Shabbat. The act has triggered concern among many Israelis that it is a sign of growing Jewish Orthodox power in Israel's new conservative government.

on crime in post-Apartheid South Africa and what's being done about it... Today, she visits the black township of Soweto, outside Johannesburg, where young black residents have joined forces with white police to catch criminals. It's an unusual alliance between those who fought to overthrow Apartheid and those who fought to protect it. Soweto and the other black townships surrounding Johannesburg have a murder rate three times higher than that of New York City.

NPR'S Eric Weiner profiles the new Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu (n'tahn-YAH-hoo). Though most Israelis call him by his nickname, Bibi (BEE-bee), few Israelis know much about the man who will lead them.

More than 100 Mormons are recreating the covered wagon journey their ancestors took from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City in 1846. Noah talks to Linda Whitaker, who is making the trip with her four children and her husband.

Mike Lanchin reports from El Salvador that prisoners in one of the country's jails have chosen, by lottery, four fellow inmates to be killed unless the government agrees to improve conditions by next Monday. Problems at the Santa Ana prison are the same as those in jails across El Salvador: jails are filled way beyond capacity, there is not enough food or sleeping space, and many inmates have not even been charged with a crime, let alone tried. A member of El Salvador's Supreme Court has suggested an amnesty for all those charged with minor crimes. The Salvadoran legislature is expected to discuss the crisis today.

Today, the Supreme Court upheld part of a new law that restricts appeals made by death row inmates. The provision requires that state prisoners who fail in their first federal appeal get approval from a three-judge panel before they can file another appeal. Robert talks with Larry Yakel (YAY-kull), a professor of law at Boston University, about the implications of this ruling.

Commentator Mickey Edwards talks about the recent Supreme Court decision that allowed political parties to spend as much as they want to support their party's candidates. He thinks the decision was a good one, ultimately supporting the principles of free speech.

NPR's Mike Shuster reports that China has announced it no longer will support peaceful nuclear explosions. That removes a major hurdle in the negotiations for a comprehensive test ban treaty. However, very significant hurdles...such as who will monitor China's nuclear program... remain. The ultimate success of those negotiations is still in doubt.